 Gandalf's Logs
random opinions...... All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. |
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Delhi
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Friday, December 12, 2003
It's Eurofighter 2: Prancing Horse 1 !! Michael Schumacher's Ferrari beat the Eurofighter piloted by former Italian astronaut Maurizio Cheli over the shortest distance(400m) they raced(via The Prancing Horse). But the superior power of the Italian Air Force fighter jet which has a top speed of almost 2,450 kmh compared to 369 kmh of the F2003-GA held sway over the 900 and 1,200 metre races. Schumacher said it was a very interesting experience and that the fighter jet was very impressive. Cheli, a test pilot for the company which built the Eurofighter, admitted Schumacher had given him a run for his money. "The result could not be taken for granted. It was a great challenge and I was not sure of beating Ferrari. Victory hung in the balance until the very end."- Maurizio Cheli So by all accounts the PR exercise seems to have gone quite well for both parties. It now remains to be seen if this results in more buyers for the still struggling Eurofighter Permalink / / Monday, November 24, 2003 Not quite the weaker sex... Not with gloves on at any rate. Our girls rocked in the 2nd Women’s Asian Boxing Championship held at Hissar(Haryana), winning an unprecedented haul of 5 golds, 4 silvers and 4 bronze medals to place 2nd in the team rankings. World Champions North Korea expectedly took the team title winning 6 golds, 2 silvers & a bronze medal. With the sport's increasing popularity in most Asian countries, there remains a strong possibility of it being included in the 2008 Olympics. So the rapid strides our women are making, they won just 3 silver & 1 bronze last time, is great news. The popularity of women's boxing is growing fast in states like Haryana, Punjab, Kerela and in the N-E, so the live telecast was a good move too. The commentry by D.D. Sports though was at best attrocious and often made a mockery of the brave girls slugging it out. This attitude was best summed up by their comments(I'm sure she is fat and lacks physical fitness) when K.C.Lekha accidently slipped and fell in her 80kg final twisting her knee and ending our chances of getting the team gold. Anyway the silly comments were most times drowned out by the crowd which cheered every blow landed by an Indian boxer. The girls from the N-E ended up winning 3 of our 5 golds, all of them registering wins against North Koreans. World Champion M.C Mary Kom(Manipur) easily won her 46 kg bout while L Sarita Devi(Manipur) narrowly defeated Asian champion Ha Son Bi 21-20 in the 54-kg final. Sarita later also got the best boxer award. The highlight of the evening(for me) however was watching the 63-kg final where R.L Jenny(Mizoram) surprised her taller, and more fancied opponent Kim Hye Yong. Her quick hands, good defence, and general ring-sense made an impression on even our 'mighty' commentators who till then were busy mocking the lack of technique & fitness of our boxers relative to the North Koreans. Left clueless in the end as to who won, the punches were too quick for them(!), they were gushing that she would at least win the best loser award. Jenny who used her left hook to telling effect and had weaved her way out of most of her opponents punches, actually won by a big margin(27-17) !! Permalink / / Monday, November 10, 2003 Go Justine !! Justine Henin-Hardenne ensured that she'll end the year as world no. 1 by reaching the semi-final of the ongoing WTA Tour ending championship on Saturday(report). Before her match with Jeniffer Capriati she had needed medical treatment for her racing heart and the lingering effects of a sinus infection. But Capriati who was suffering from a hip injury herself couldn't provide much resistance, going down in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. Now as Kim Clisters is the current defending champion she cannot overtake Justine even if she wins the title. This achievement without the Williams in the fray may not be as meaningful but nevertheless is an important one for the Belgian. With the French & U.S Open titles this year she's become the player to beat on clay and also proved that she can keep up with the bigger players on the hard courts. Can she continue the dramatic improvement and win on the fast courts when the Williams return to the tour next year ? The workload she'll put in the off-season will hold the key to that I guess... Permalink / / Friday, November 07, 2003 Prancing Horse vs. a Fighter Jet !!This is not a fantasy of an ardent Ferrari fan but an actual event that'll take place on December 11. Michael Schumacher on his trusted Ferrari will take on a Eurofighter plane to be flown by trained astronaut Maurizio Chelliat at the Grossetto air base in Tuscany. They will compete in races over distances of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 metres. The race apparantly has been arranged by Italian defence minister Antonio Martino. The Eurofighter has started to be in service from 2002 and sales are yet to pick up. So as far as publicity goes this seems like a win-win scenario for them regardless of who actually wins the race. And I for one can't wait to find out if Schummi can pull off an upset :) Permalink / / Monday, October 20, 2003 Justine is no. 1 !!Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Jelena Dokic 6-0 6-4 to win the Swisscom Challenge on Sunday(report). With this 8th title of the year she becomes the 13th woman to be no. 1 since the tour rankings were introduced in 1975. But the great battle with Kim Clisters for the year-ending top spot, in the absence of the Serena, will continue since Justine is resting for the next 2 weeks. This will mean that Kim, who will play at Luxembourg next week, is going to regain the top spot again. Permalink / / Wednesday, October 01, 2003 F-1: Alonso for the Prancing Horse?With Michael Schumacher on the verge of a historic 6th world title, already speculation is underway that 22 yr old Spanish driver Fernando Alonso might replace him in 2005 as a Ferrari driver(report). Alonso had earlier in the year made his mark as a driver to watch out for, by becoming the youngest driver to win a Grand Prix in Hungary. But this season he has been struggling with mechanical problems in the Renault car. He retired after 44 laps in Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday, the 4th instance in the yr. that mechanical problems forced him out. Permalink / / Tuesday, September 30, 2003 Tennis: Kim's pain, Justine's gain !My favourite female tennis player Justine Henin-Hardenne seems poised to take over as the new world no. 1 before the end of this season. Kim Clisters, could surrender her status as world No.1 next week if a sprained ankle prevents her from defending her Porsche Grand Prix title in Filderstadt. Kim had already pulled out of her last tournament at the semifinal stage, and confirmed that she'll play with a taped ankle for the rest of the season. Right now Clijsters leads the WTA rankings with 6,579 points, with Henin-Hardenne closing in on 6,291. If Henin does overtake Kim, then this season will have seen 3 no. 1's on the W.T.A tour which is a rare happening. It won't be the way Justine would like to achieve her childhood goal, but I'm sure she won't complain :) Permalink / / Sunday, September 07, 2003 The name's Justine Henin-Hardenne... They haven't quite got her name right yet in the U.S, the guys presenting the trophy announcing her as 'Christine'. But they might just get used to it yet. Like with all else she faced in the last 2 weeks Justine didn't let that blooper fluster her one bit. She said afterwards that this win was a great confirmation that her motivation & desire were intact after the French Open truimph earlier this year. The circumstances around her were in the end more dramatic than the final itself. Finishing her epic 3hr 3 min semi-final match at 12.30 midnight she ended up having to absorb several vats of I-V fluids from a drip to treat her severe cramps. She was unable to attend her post-match interviews and came out of the stadium hospital only at 3.00 am. USTA too initially listed her as 'questionable' for the final in a news bulletin. But unable to sleep properly, she did somehow make it to the final. And adding to her growing reputation as the most resiliant player on tour she proceeded to handily beat her fellow Belgian Kim Clisters 7-5 6-1. Now tennis experts are waking up to the fact that her greatest weapon is her heart not her sublime backhand. And that her small size at 5ft 4in , 120 lbs is an asset combined with her nimble foot speed. And that unlike other women players she doesn't cower in front of bigger, stronger players. Yup, eventually everyone comes around... [note: The U.S media in the recent past snidely talked about Serena & Kim's past accusations of Justine's gamesmanship. Not surprisingly nobody mentioned Serena's antics 3 yrs back when she feigned injury whenever she was losing :)]Permalink / / One tough little cookie !!The setting and the atmosphere were perfect for a great match. And for once the principals didn't disappoint. Jeniffer Capriati, back in the semis after a tumultous decade, was trying to reach the finals for the first time and keep the U.S hopes alive in their national championship. Justine Henin-Hardenne in the form of her life (Laveresque/Mcenroesque were tossed about as euphorisms in her last 2 matches) was aiming to keep a date with her 'Belgian twin'. Earlier in the year Justine was accused of 'lying & fabricating' in Paris by Serena in front of partisan crowds, termed later by Mrs Williams as 'lacking class'. And this night 13,744 New Yorkers in Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows were to try for most of the time to recreate a similar atmosphere, as every 1st serve missed by the Belgian was applauded and all close line calls going against Jeniffer were booed & whistled at.  The quality of the match thankfully didn't suffer that much. Justine did make more errors and didn't play the greatest game tactically but then she wasn't allowed to by Jeniffer's inspired play. The drama involved recalled an earlier era when Jimmy Connors worked the crowds of New York in night matches to make his famous comebacks. In the first set from 1-4 down, an amazing sequence of 5 straight games saw Jeniffer feed off the energy of her home crowd, questioning close line calls and running down every ball to win the set 6-4. Justine who started the match in great fashion to her credit didn't react when a close line call was overruled by the umpire in the 8th game to hand Jeniffer the break at 5-3. The 2nd set was close initially before Jeniffer broke for a 5-3 lead to try serve out the match. She came within 2 points of claiming victory before Justine staged a similar recovery winning 4 straight games and forcing the match into a decider. Even the boisterous crowd started to ease up as far as heckling the Belgian was concerned. They had seen too many classic night matches to not know & acknowledge a fighter.  Jeniffer then played some of her best tennis in the decider racing to a 5-2 lead as the boisterous crowd began celebrating what seemed like a dream coming true. Justine too began cramping in her left thigh at that point & was unable to serve properly. But conscious of being accused of using injury breaks(recently by her countrywoman Kim) at crucial points to break an opponents rhythm, she decided to keep playing without a medical timeout. She served without using her normal knee-bend & smartly changed her tactics going for outright winners to shorten up the points. Then ensued some of the most memorable moments of the match as a limping Henin hit incredible winners all over the court. Amazingly she broke back to level the match at 5-5. There were to be only applause after that as the crowd acknowledged her winners just as loudly as Jennifer's. She almost toppled over in pain a few times but somehow hung on. A shell-shocked Capriati would committ a string of errors in the ensuing tiebreak, dumping a final volley in the net. Justine finally yielded to her exhaustion falling on her knees & holding her head in utter disbelief. After the match the crowd to its credit saved the loudest cheer for the moment the announcer called out her name. Nope, can't quite agree with the Williams family. Partisan crowds in a gladitorial atmosphere make up a large part of the romance in the game. And a fiesty little girl from Belgium just demonstrated how true champions react to & win over one... [Update: 1. Kim Clisters called this match the best on W.T.A tour this yr at the presentation ceremony after the finals.2. Some sports journalists are calling it the best women's match of the last decade at the U.S Open. 3. Others are calling it a possible inclusion in the next poll of 15 greatest ever womens matches. Current poll got underway before the match.] Permalink / / Friday, September 05, 2003 Tennis: Will Justine need to wear boxing-headgear now ?I'm probably setting myself up for abuse by Serena Williams fans but she sure does make a splash with her interviews(see report). Now apparantly she wants to be angry while playing to get an edge, so she's adopting the 'Mike Tyson' approach. And I thought she already had such an effective & cute scowl :) She also says that Kim Clisters(only slam-less top ranked player in W.T.A history) deserves the No. 1 ranking for now but the W.T.A tour should reconsider its ranking system which awards pts for performances in 17 events. Hmm... to leave time for her acting classes I presume. Currently the Williams's play only the slams and a handful of other tournaments(Serena played 11 this yr). But then unlike other players they have huge endorsement deals to fall back on. The present system ensures that top players are participating in more events throughout the yr enabling the sponsors to recover money. Also with the women players getting equal prize money as the men in most tournaments it is imperative that the ranking systems be similar.( Current systems:A.T.P, W.T.A ) Permalink / / Wednesday, August 27, 2003 Tennis: Five Myths around Pistol Pete... So as expected Pete Sampras announced his retirement officially on Monday thus ending his era of dominance on the faster courts of tennis. Now that it's over I'll miss him I guess... After all I spent so many hrs in my teens trying to duplicate his freak serve and awesome forehand, that too with so little success :) I didn't really want to write a tribute so thought I'll just post what I think are some common myths about Pete Sampras circulated in the media. Related to Aggasi The Great rivalry(that barely was one !): The final statistics of 20-14 to Pete Sampras over Andre Agassi looks like another edition to the list of great rivalries. But grand-slam statistics show a 6-3 overall & 4-1 for finals, advantage to Sampras. Considering Pete's sole focus on the slams they probably are the figures that make sense. The absolute truth is that there were no great rivalries in this era of tennis, at least none that compared with the Borg-Connors-Mcenroe clashes. And the reason is simple, Pete as the best fast-court player of all time was too sharp with his game & just too tough mentally for the rest of them. Mutual respect(belated & media created): Sampras while retiring did sentimentally say that a last match in a grand slam final with his one great rival was the fitting end to his career. But then maybe he just wanted a perfect bottomline to a much hyped rivalry. In younger days things were not so diplomatic. Agassi then compared Pete with a monkey - because he hung his tongue out during points, ate dozens of bananas during changeovers and jumped like a primate to slam-dunk lobs. Similarly when a journalist, doing an article on their great rivalry, asked Sampras repeatedly what he would like to possess out of Andre's numerous gifts, he replied after much thought(& with a grin) that he wouldn't mind having Agassi's private jet :) Frequent jibes continued, though with time their exchanges took a light-hearted tone e.g: Agassi jokingly claimed 2 yrs back that at least his kid with his & Steffi's genes would probably beat Sampras's kid. To which Sampras promptly retorted that he was 6ft 5in and his wife 6ft so chances are that his progeny just like their father will easily overpower Agassi's. Great matches(just marketing hype): They went the distance only twice in the 9 matchups in the slams. Sampras actually lost both times :) Apart from those 2 times, the other matches hyped as great were actually more a showcase of Sampras's dominance over Agassi. A big reason for this one-sided rivalry was that Sampras knew Agassi had the capability to beat him even when he was playing well. So he always played his absolute best against him. And a serve-volleyer with the best serve in the history of the game playing at his best wasn't going to lose too many times to a baseliner, even if he had the best return in the game. So Sampras's most memorable matches in the slams therefore invariably came against lesser players like Corretja, Kafelnikov, Goran and Chang when he wasn't always playing in a zone. Power Game: Tech-aided power(sour grapes): Critics and former players have pointed out that his game owes much to the advances in the technology behind lightweight high strength composite racquets. But in his heyday, Sampras bemused by the fuss made over the power generated by his serves, did proceed at a demonstration to serve at 125mph with wooden racquets as used by the the older generation of players like Rod Laver :) Personality: Emotionless perfection(silly stereotyping): Another media created myth, they focussed on his lack of tantrums, hunched shoulders & impassive face. They should have noted his relentless adherence to goals instead: Ending the year as no. 1( 6 times), 286 weeks as no. 1, 14 grand slams, only the 2nd player to win a slam in teens, 20's and 30's. If they thought that comes without passion & pride its high time someone gave them a basic psychology lesson. And an astrology lesson wouldn't hurt either :) A quiet & regal Leo, Pete is just as sentimental as the rest of his pride. I still remember him sobbing thru an entire match because his coach was battling cancer at a hospital. And who else would read love letters from his wife to inspire himself during changeovers of a match. Or indeed give up his relentless focus on the no. 1 status after getting engaged to the love of his life, and his career after his marriage & subsequent fatherhood. Permalink / / Monday, August 25, 2003 Begining of the end ?Michael Schumacher was lapped by his young rival Pablo Montoya in yesterdays race. He ended up finishing 8th out of 13 cars running. Michael's been on record earlier in the year saying that he will quit if he feels a young driver is quicker than him, as he would like to go out on top & the younger driver would obviously keep on improving. Now he vows that he still is the man to beat for the championship (report). Is this just to psyche himself up for possibly his last season or will he regain form. The upcoming home Grand prix at Monza will likely hold the key to Michael's future...Permalink / / Wednesday, August 20, 2003 Hockey: rude awakenings...Well going by todays showing I won't have to worry about our team's performance anymore. Practice games were shown to be just that... practice. Australia just like Germany yesterday showed that the Indian team is totally clueless against well-prepared organised teams. They totally outplayed India in all departments winning by a score of 4-1. Significantly these were the 2 teams that India played a series of matches leading up to the Champions Trophy. And using that knowhow effectively they were able to bottle up the key players in the Indian Team. Telling statistic: 1 penalty corner earned each against these 2 teams; against Holland who India played after 12 months India earned 7. Now the best India can hope for is a bronze medal play-off against Pakistan if results go as per current form. Last year India had lost to Pakistan in a similar 3rd place playoff. So all in all not much progress this time... Permalink / / Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Hockey: old ghosts & a lucky escape...Last weekend was spent agonising over our hockey teams progress in the Champions Trophy (thanks to the coverage by Ten Sports). The young Indian hockey team now is in the spotlight with their good showing in Test matches in Australia & Germany in the last 2 tours. There is a fair bit of talk in the international press about an Indian resurgance. Some random notes on the 2 matches so far: * Jugraj Singh has come of age as a world-class penalty corner specialist. So hope for now remains...* Dhanraj Pillay still remains a hothead & sets a bad example as captain to the young players around him. His dismissal at the ending stages cost India their 1st match against Holland. * Gagan Ajit Singh is now the most important player in the side. His 2 goals against a 2nd string German team saved India their blushes in the 2nd match. * Deepak Thakur is not fully fit and has hobbled through both matches. He however still is a great finisher as his 2 goals against Holland show. * Devesh Chauhan, our goalkeeper has been in great form & experts are all calling him world-class. * India's tactics of playing long balls from the backline has been questioned in press conferences. And analysts point out that with the most skillful players in the world India should attack more in a traditional way. * In the 1st match India lost to Holland 4-3 after leading 3-0 with 8 minutes to go. * In the 2nd match India trailed 1-2 to a 2nd string German side with 15 minutes left. They scored 2 goals in the time remaining to win 3-2 * India now have Australia, Argentina and Pakistan to play next. All teams that they have beaten recently. Permalink / / Tuesday, August 05, 2003 Justine wins the battle of Belgians !!Justine Henin-Hardenne won her first title on the hardcourts in the U.S, beating Kim Clijsters 3-6 6-2 6-3 in the final of the $1 million Acura Classic on Sunday(report). This was the 3rd time she has beaten Clisters in the last 4 meetings taking their head-to-head stats to 6-8. Now she seems ready to make a bigger impact on hardcourts this year with her improved serve & forehand. Her opponents, probably used to having their own way on quicker surfaces, aren't all that gracious in defeat now. Kim suggested after the match that Justine may have used an injury break in the begining of the 2nd set to upset her rhythm. Injury breaks are a grey area in the current rules & players have often used them when they feel their games aren't on song. Though Kim saying that Justine always uses them in matches involving them had probably more to do with the fact that this was the 1st time she has lost to Henin on hardcourts( now 4-1 in Clisters favour). Kim also had a chance to become the no.1 ranked player on the W.T.A Tour had she won adding to her disappointment. With the U.S Open coming up later this month we could well have another round of this growing rivalry, particularly since Serena isn't playing &Venus is still injured. Permalink / / Monday, August 04, 2003 Staying true to an unwritten code...
A day earlier, in a moment of supreme sportsmanship Tyler had asked his leading pack of cyclists to wait for Lance Armstrong to recover when the yellow jersey holder slips and falls in a crucial stage of the race.(journal) Jan Ulrich had slowed down but some of the others weren't slowing down enough by Tyler's reckoning. Just because it is the done thing in cycling parlance... Lance himself had stopped at a stage a few yrs back when the then leader Jan Ulrich had punctured his tyres. Every sport has its heroes and cycling seems to be particularly well endowed. And it sure has a new fan from now on... Permalink / / Thursday, July 24, 2003 Of idle experts & their rants...Harsha Bhogle, so adept at mouthing generalisms in cricket commentry, takes up the crudgels for Indian Hockey in his recent column in 'The Week'. Harsha seems to know Indian Hockey's problems well enough to surmise them glibly in one line "...pompous federations, abominable television & the inability to see the difference between philantrophy & sponsorship". He doesn' really care to prove his first insuination. It seems to be an acceptable generalism for him. Funny because under K.P.S.Gill over the last few yrs Indian hockey has made rapid strides. Coaches & players both have been judged solely on basis of the performances of the team and not on their past reputation. The Indian Hockey Team now has an average age of 24-26 yrs with the induction of several of our junior world cup winning team, auguring well for the future. The playing tactics too have changed to a traditional style of attacking hockey under Rajinder Singh(who was also the coach of that junior team). Harsha sees an emotional bond in the 8 yr sponsorship deal struck with Sahara calling it a rescue act & that for " a sport to survive it cannot ask for charity". Considering India played on their last 3 tours without a sponsor I wonder what alternatives they had about such a long-term deal. And I've read reports in the press that emerging stars like Jugraj Singh, Prabhjyot Singh, Gagan Ajit Sigh have been approached by corporate sponsors along with Dhanraj Pillay. Maybe Harsha knows better but I'm not sure so many corporates do acts of charity/philantrophy or are interested in staging emotional rescue acts. In a more pompous way Harsha writes "Indian hockey is invisible in television ...when it appears it is in a shoddy incarnation that wandering minds switch off". Well he should know as far as visibility is concerned Star-Espn is quite invisible as far as Hockey is concerned. I found the coverage of last yrs Champions Trophy by Ten Sports excellent. They incidently are showing this yrs matches too. And yes I do watch D.D Sports when they telecast Indian matches. They aren't perfect, but I haven't had any major problems with either their commentry or telecasts either. Struggling to shake off his Siddhuism influence he writes "Indian hockey is like a manufacturer who makes good stuff & then hides it in brown boxes(?). It needs to go to the people with a smart offering". Yeah, right. So very insightful. Indian Hockey is doing o.k for itself right now. And the sole reason is that the performances on the field have been world-class in the past 18 months. They haven't come just because of "magical skills, big hearts, tough men" as Bhogle romantically puts it. There has been a concerted effort by our administrators from behind the scenes too. Hockey could surely be packaged smarter by our officials, every supporter in India knows that. But like so many of his whine sessions on air while covering India's Test failures abroad, Harsha has little to offer in terms of concrete suggestions. Very unlike an official of Indian Hockey Federation who in an interview on N.D.T.V recently suggested that India take the example of European countries like Holland who stage floodlit shortened evening games. These matches are very popular there as they represent 'an evening out' for most people. Hockey's version of One-day cricket. Now if only someone could persuade Mr. Dalmiya to do for hockey what he did for cricket... Permalink / / Saturday, July 05, 2003 Wimbledon: Brawn, blues & a new era dawns...Women's tennis on grass is boring. Unless of course you like power to be the deciding factor (i.e support one of the Williams's). The sisters are just too powerful, athletic & quick for the rest of them. And so it proved for the second year running. Venus won after a brief flutter in the 1st set against Kim while Serena muscled her way to avenge her defeat in the French Open by Justine. I couldn't watch much of the 2nd match. My sisters(both Henin fans like me) couldn't let me as they found it 'too scary'. And so it was I guess. Serena is 5 ft 10 in, 68 kgs & plays with a over-sized racquet(related controversy) to get more power(?). Justine Henin is 5ft 4 in, 57 kg & plays with a normal racquet. And on quick surfaces it is a mismatch. Maybe things would be closer if Justine learns to use her slice backhand better. Steffi was the last player who beat a Williams sister convincingly on grass using her backhand to good effect (Venus back in 1999 semis).Men's tennis on the other hand, has been very interesting this year. Lots of good matches in the earlier rounds. And the semis had the most talented young players lining up. Each semi with a serve-volleyer playing a baseliner. Federer(22) is probably the best serve-volleyer in the game(Henman is too frail in big matches) while Roddick(21) with his cannonball serve has the most effective game on grass among the baseliners. They together seem to herald a new post-Sampras era(related post) in Wimbledon. The other semi had French artistry from the baseline(Grosjean) up against the classical serve-volley game of the big Aussie(Philippoussis). On grass the adage has always been "A good serve-volleyer will always beat a good baseliner on his day". And it held doubly true today. Roddick's serve & big forehand represented the biggest challenge Federer has faced so far. Not challenge enough for Federer as he breezed thru to his first final 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. Grosjean, in sublime form on grass this year, was facing Mark who had played two consecutive 5-set matches prior to this match. But those 130 mph serves seem to take out little from Scud's energy reserves. He aced thru to his 1st final (after 3 previous q-finals) with a similar score of 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. Now it remains to be seen whether we will see a great story for Mark(a la Goran) or will Federer finally fulfil his potential by finally stepping into Sampras's shoes on grass. Permalink / / Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Wimbledon: 46 Scud's rock Court no. 1 as lone Russian hangs on... 46 times the yellow piece of circular fluff, now filled with lead we are told to slow it down, whistled past the best returner the game has ever seen. It was an epic battle lasting 5 sets but the result this time (unlike numerous past years) was the right one as far as Mark Philopousis was concerned. Andre Agassi couldn't have played any better today. At 33 years he still manages to magically use his unique hand-eye co-ordination to return serves measured at 130 + mph. But Mark this year has played pretty well from the back court & thus was able to press on Agassi's serve at crucial times during the match. He won 6-3, 2-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. And yes those 46 aces tied the record held by Goran. Elsewhere 4 Russian girls were sent packing(3 by U.S based players) leaving 18 yr old debutant Svetlana Kuznetsova as the only representative. Kuznetsova defeated Maria Sharapova her fellow countrywoman( making her debut too) 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. Pity I was waiting to catch a glimpse of Sharapova. Well at least Kim & Justine won. Permalink / / Friday, June 27, 2003
Wimbledon: Rain & media blues !! Rains seem to have arrived here in Delhi at last. Over the last few days due to occassional showers, temperatures have dipped & everything outside looks fresh & invigorating. Almost feels like I'm back home in Assam. Been a while since I've been there. Lots of good memories... Not up to much analysis today(what with the rain & all..). Well rain & Wimbledon matches are quite synonymous too. But this year players I support aren't doing too well. Which isn't that abnormal... . Only this year they just don't seem to be sticking around long enough for me to catch a glimpse. Xavier Malise(1st round), Kafelnikov(1st), Escude(2nd due to injury) are all gone. Watched Nadia Petrova play today(lost 6-1 6-2 to Venus). Very Russian like she seemed to wake up only after the match was almost over. Well moodiness/eccentricities are big attraction factors for me so can't complain :) The ones surviving are proving hard to follow. Justine Henin-Hardienne seems to be on embargo on Star sports .Wonder why... She isn't exactly on Vijay Amritraj's good books. I remember he was silly enough to whine on air when Justine(justifiedly) refused to do an interview last yr at the U.S open. Vijay & everyone else on Star sports seem big on the Williams sisters. And why not. They look poised to have another family affair at this stage of the tournament. Nirupama Vaidyanathan seems quite poised too this year, as far as commentry goes. Till last year her basic analysis on each & every shot(right from footwork to body position) was as relentless & enervating as going through a severe coaching drill. Almost a tennis equivalent of all our 'ex-cricketers with grouses' club of media people. She's thankfully got over that phase. Well mostly. Just an occassional relapse. Permalink / / Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Wimbledon: Who can don Sampras's mantle? Men's Singles at Wimbledon won't quite be the same again what with Pete Sampras seemingly having called it a day. I've grown used to seeing familiar figures do battle come the closing stages of the biggest(by tradition if not by anything else) Grand Slam tennis tournament of them all. So last year, with Hewitt, Malisse, Nalbandian & Schalken contesting the semi-finals, was a bit of a anomaly. The player who by his serve & net game comes closest potentially to dominate on grass like Sampras is probably Roger Federer. But the swiss player is nowhere near as tough mentally & before he can rise above the vagaries of his mind his chances are slim. Same goes for Tim Henman, & Greg Rusedski. Nicholas Escude is too inconsistent while on the other hand Mark Philipousis, Richard Kraijek(withdrew?), & Goran(withdrew) are always under an injury cloud. Big serving Andy Roddick has to back up his serve(149 mph) with a better net game then he has exhibited so far to go all the way. So maybe Martin Verkerk will prove his run on clay was no fluke by repeating Michael Stich similar truimph in the early 90's after a good performance in the preceeding French Open. A more possible scenario is that we will see another baseliner winning this year. Two baseliners back to back can't remember when that happened last. Not since a certain long haired swede from Mars I guess. If that happens then don't count out Andre Agassi at age 33 to win it again, 11 years after his maiden truimph here. Leyton Hewitt as the defending champion will be a prime contender too. If I had to pick a baseliner who I would like to win, it would have to be Xavier Malisse. For sheer shotmaking capability he has no equals on the A.T.P tour & he plays with an irreverence for the match situation that is by approach similar to John Mcenroe. Playing a shot for the sheer pleasure it brings you. Not a approach that will make you very successful(unless you happen to be 'Mac the mouth'). Xavier has lost almost as many matches as he has won this year. " ...it was tough on some points because I was busy watching him play a shot rather than running it down. If he doesn't change his style of play though he keeps on losing more matches then he wins you got to give him respect. He's just doing it his own way." -Andre Agassi after their French Open meeting (Agassi won in straight sets) Permalink / / Sunday, June 08, 2003
9 year old promise kept...finally. As a 12 yr old in 1994 watching Steffi Graf take on Monica Seles, Justine Henin-Hardienne had told her Mom that one day she would be on center court & perhaps win. Today was the day that those words finally came true. As a final it never rose to any great heights. Justine simply carried on from the form she displayed while ending Serena's 30 odd grand slam matches winning streak in the semi's. And Kim Clisters simply couldn't do anything on her forehand but commit errors. It took 30 minutes before Kim registered anything on the scorecard & by then it was too late. Growing up together their careers have followed similar upward paths & I'm sure Kim will break thru as far as slams are concerned soon. In the end it was an emotional time for Justine as she dedicated the victory to her Mother who passed away battling cancer... just 2 years after that momentous day 9 years back when Justine watched her idol Steffi play at the Roland Garros. Permalink / / Saturday, June 07, 2003
Brawn vs Brains : Watching some gripping matches at the French Open this year. My favourite female player Justin Henin-Hardenne is through to the finals. The tiny Belgian reduced the 'burly'(I got this description of her from Foxsports) Serena Williams to tears & much off-court antics yesterday. Serena started the match as if she wanted to take revenge for Justine ending her 21 match winning streak at the start of the year. But of late her easy wins have led her to have an air of arrogance about her play. More brawn than brains ... So Justine took advantage of Serena's errors and raced to a 3-0 lead in no time. It was funny seeing Serena almost overpowered in the first set. Justine has always depended more on timing & her speed about the court but now she has improved her serve & forehand. Her average 1st serve speed was higher than Serena's yesterday & the backhand as usual was spectacular. I noticed that Serena tried throughout the match to intimidate Justine by grunting & trying to hit the cover of the ball. She would then stare at her opponent across the net if she managed to hit a winner. These tactics worked well against most opponents (eg Mauresmo in the quarters here or Clisters in the Australian Open semi's earlier this year) but to her credit Justin stared her right back & did her own bit of fist pumping after hitting winners. Towards the end of the 3rd set Serena started questioning line calls & the crowd turned totally against her. They cheered even her double-faults. Serena did not shake the referre's hand after the match & got booed off the court even as she made a farewell wave. At the post match conference Serena cried and played the 'coloured' hand albeit subtly. She said that she didn't think the crowd reacted that way because of strained relations betweeen U.S & France. Also that she has to just smile & take it in her stride & that this is just another fight she will learn to win. She did carry it a bit too far however by accusing Justine of lying & fabricating. This was about an instance in the 3rd set when Justine put her hand up to stop Serena from serving but Serena didn't notice & went on to serve into the net. When Serena sought confirmation if the serve was to be replayed the umpire replied that he didn't see anything. Justine just kept quiet. Later Justine agreed that the crowd may have got out of hand at times but she didn't get to reply to Serena's allegations as her interview was held first. Permalink / / |
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Even a sport I've never followed before like cycling seems to easily provide moments to cherish. No wonder that I end up passionately following most sports that I can comprehend :) In this years Tour de France, Tyler Hamilton breaks a collar bone in a crash on the opening stage(
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